Financial News: South Korea March Current Account Surplus $6.23 Billion

South Korea March Current Account Surplus $6.23 Billion

05/06/2020 - 20:15:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - South Korea posted a current account surplus of $6.23 billion in March, the Bank of Korea said on Thursday - down from $6.37 billion in February.

The goods account surplus narrowed to $7.0 billion, compared to its $8.34 billion figure in March 2019.

The services account deficit decreased to $1.46 billion, from $2.10 billion in March last year, owing to an increase in the use of the intellectual property account.

The primary income account saw a $0.93 billion surplus, up from the $0.61 billion a year earlier, in line with a decrease in the payment of dividends. The secondary income account recorded a $0.23 billion deficit.

Looking at the financial account, net assets expanded by $5.77 billion during March.

Direct investment assets grew by $3.46 billion, and direct investment liabilities increased by $0.99 billion. There was a $1.33 billion decrease in portfolio investment assets during the month, and a $8.96 billion decrease in portfolio investment liabilities. Financial derivatives posted a net increase of $2.33 billion.

In terms of other investments, there was an increase of $16.98 billion in assets, and an increase of $14.74 billion in liabilities. Reserve assets decreased by $8.92 billion.

For the first quarter of 2020, the current account surplus was $13.61 billion.